


Moments of Levity

by mcgarrygirl78



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Humor, post-episode
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-26
Updated: 2013-01-26
Packaged: 2017-11-26 22:11:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/654941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Well we definitely all have a few ex-girlfriends in our closet.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Moments of Levity

**Author's Note:**

> SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 8X13, MAGNUM OPUS!

Alex walked over, put the Coke can down on the table, her cup of coffee down, and sat across from Rossi. He murmured a quick thank you without looking up.

“You’ve got me intrigued.” She said.

“How so?” he still didn’t look up.

“Dave, you’ve been writing furiously for over an hour. I can see your mind on fire. Nothing could convince me that that’s FBI paperwork. What are you writing, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“Truth?” Dave looked at her.

“That’s usually the way I like it.” Alex nodded.

“The spanking room.” he lowered his voice. He didn’t want anyone else to hear him. They probably wouldn’t since Hotch was knee deep in paperwork and JJ and Derek finally got Spencer to talk a bit. He’d thought of going over and saying something to the young man himself but it wasn’t time yet for Uncle Dave’s big pep talk.

“Are you serious?”

“I want to get it all down before I forget.”

“I'm almost afraid to ask why.” Alex made a face that made Dave smile.

“I think it could be a big part of the second novel.” He said.

“Are you serious?”

“Do you plan to ask me that a lot?”

“I'm just…I don’t know why I didn’t even think about it.”

“I didn’t use real cases for the first novel; at least I didn’t do it consciously. But this case is so interesting. Its disgusting, so many of them are, but Erin tells me that I have to add levity so that crazy people don’t bum my autograph in restaurants.”

“Does that happen to you often?” Alex asked, letting go for a minute that he dropped Erin’s name without batting an eyelash.

“More than you can probably imagine. When you get a chance go to rossirocks.net. I'm not allowed to…Garcia banned me. She banned me from my own website. I mean I didn’t create it or anything but it’s dedicated to me.”

“That’s a tragedy.”

“It really is, though probably a good idea.”

“Can we get back to the spanking room? I mean only if you want to.”

“This case, Alex, it always takes me a while to stop thinking about the cases. It was dark and horrifying but smack in the middle of it two FBI agents walk into an adult club. A novelist couldn’t have written it better.”

“Now one is going to try.” She said.

“Yes.” Rossi nodded. “But it’s not just the scene, which will be great, it’s the character.”

“Andre?” Alex asked.

“I'm talking about SSA Avery Bristol. They’re dealing with a blood letter and the disappearance of someone the man character knows. She could be the victim of a serial killer so the FBI is involved and Petrelli gets mixed up in it. Maybe.”

“Avery Bristol huh?” she couldn’t help but smile as she sipped her coffee. Alex didn’t read Dave’s first novel though she’d surely read some of his other works. He was a top notch FBI Agent and an amazing writer.

“That’s what I'm calling her for now. It could change.”

“I like it.”

“I'm glad.” He smiled. 

“Tell me about her.”

“I don’t know much yet. Right now I'm just working on this moment of levity. There’s banter and blood…I don’t think it gets much better than that. Also, she might be his ex.”

“Avery might be Petrelli’s ex?” Alex raised an eyebrow.

“I think so. I'm not sure yet but I'm feeling something more between these two characters than just strangers working together on the case.”

“Well we definitely all have a few ex-girlfriends in our closet.”

“That’s for sure.” Dave nodded.

“Your excitement about this is infectious. I'll look forward to reading it when the time comes.”

“That’s a long way from now; it’s just a scene. You can console yourself with a copy of the first novel though. It was a bestseller.”

“Says the humble man we all know and adore.” Alex smiled.

“I've been writing for years though I never thought it was something I could do. There have been so many cases, so many interesting individuals, in the end it wasn’t a hard decision to make. But to actually make one up…” Rossi sighed. “Have you ever had a voice in your head keep you up at night to the point where you almost thought you were losing your mind? But it was this amazing feeling.”

“If you subtract the amazing feeling it’s usually my mother.” she rolled her eyes.

“Do you think you want to throw in a little real life experience for me? You know, lend authenticity to the writing.”

“I think you're doing just fine on your own. Sometimes imagination brings things to life in a way reality never could. Google does as well.”

“Well, thanks for nothing and everything.” Rossi replied.

“I'm glad I could help.” Alex stood up. “Let me know how it all turns out.”

“You'll be the first…I mean the second.”

“I understand.”

They weren't going to talk about Erin, they never did. Alex didn’t want to know and it wasn’t her place to ask. Everyone in the BAU, probably in the entire Bureau, knew that Rossi and Strauss had history. All the people who needed to know they were married did. 

It was one of many unspoken things that echoed through the walls of Quantico. Alex wondered which character his wife was in his novel. There was no way that Erin didn’t show up somewhere. Sometimes Rossi wore his heart on his sleeve.

“Derek, do you have a minute?” Alex walked over to Morgan, putting her hand on his shoulder. His headphones were on now and she didn’t know if he heard her.

“What?” he took them off and looked at her

“Do you have a minute?”

“Oh sure, what's up?” 

He got up and followed her as she walked away. Alex went into a corner, waiting for him. It wasn’t as if this was a big secret. She couldn’t quite explain why she didn’t want anyone to hear her.

“Have you read Rossi’s novel?” she asked.

“Yeah.” Morgan nodded. “It’s fantastic. I have an autographed first edition. It impresses the ladies.”

“Do you have a copy that’s not autographed, maybe one that I can borrow?”

“I think so. You’re going to get hooked fast…its good stuff.”

“I'm looking forward to it.”

“You don’t read 20,000 words a minute do you?” Derek asked.

“No.” Alex shook her head. “And even if I could I think I would slow down to savor the really good stuff.” She put her hand on his shoulder again. “Thanks.”

“It’s no problem. I’ll bring you the book on Monday.”

Nodding, Alex went back to her seat. Now she wasn’t going to be able to forget about the spanking room. It would bring a smile to her face when it probably shouldn’t. The case had been difficult but Rossi was right about moments of levity. There was nothing wrong with enjoying being naughty when everyone was a consensual adult having a good time. And if a couple of raised eyebrows and some witty banter made her a memorable character in what was sure to be a bestselling novel then that wasn’t bad for a day’s hard work. That wasn’t bad at all.

***


End file.
